Shooting victim’s brother requests plea withdrawn

February 16, 2013

LISBON - In a handwritten affidavit, Jamie Adkins, the brother of shooting victim Holly Carosiello, submitted a motion requesting to be allowed to withdraw his plea and vacate his 10-year prison sentence.

Adkins pleaded guilty on Oct. 19 to involuntary manslaughter, burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but faced a maximum of 24 years.

From the Lorain Correctional Institution, Adkins submitted a handwritten motion dated Feb. 4. In it he claimed his rights had been violated because he had ineffective assistance from his court-appointed counselor, Kelly Linger.

Adkins wrote that during plea negotiations he had told Linger that in order for him to sign the plea agreement, the prosecutors had to agree that the people or persons responsible for the death of his sister, Carosiello, must be indicted before he was sentenced.

Adkins said Linger told him the prosecutor's office did agree to that stipulation, then changed her story after he signed it. At the sentencing hearing, she then reportedly told him the prosecution had not agreed to wait and it was at that point too late to withdraw his plea.

"I signed my plea on false pretenses and would never signed if I knew the state didn't agree with the terms, being a violation of my constitutional rights," Adkins wrote.

When asked about Adkins' complaint, Linger denied she misled her client.

"I was never untruthful with him, but I understand his frustration," Linger said.

According to court documents, the prosecutor's office has until Feb. 25 to file a reply to the motion. However, Assistant County Prosecutor John Gamble filed a response to Adkins' motion.

In it he noted Adkins was originally scheduled for a change of plea hearing so he could plead guilty on May 30, 2012, but on that date he claimed to have been coerced into changing his plea and requested new counsel. Attorney Douglas King was allowed to withdraw and Linger was appointed at that time. After a 10-week delay, Adkins again informed the court he planned to plead guilty and a second hearing was scheduled on Aug. 20.

On that date, Adkins had signed and dated the agreement. One of the clauses stated no promises were made to him aside from the terms of the agreement. Additionally, he told the court he was satisfied with the services of his attorney. Finally, he noted he was making his plea voluntarily and of his own free will.

Gamble went on to state Adkins did not raise any concerns about wanting to change his plea when he appeared for sentencing in October.

"The defendant's claims are neither credible nor supported by the record," Gamble wrote. "Moreover, no competent criminal defense lawyer, certainly not someone with Attorney Linger's experience, would ever consent to the impossible stipulation Adkins alleges in his affidavit."

Carosiello and Adkins, along with a group of people he organized reportedly attempted to break into her estranged husband's house, when Carosiello was shot and killed. The plea agreements signed by Adkins and the other defendants involved in the burglary required that they all cooperate, including testify if called, at any additional grand jury or criminal proceedings involving Carosiello's death.